This semester, Jackalope staff member Sandra Schoenenstein will regularly profile interesting and accessible off-campus spots for students. This week’s pick is Iconik Coffee Roasters.

On Sept. 15, the campus was full of people grabbing flags and painting their faces green, white and red; music played everywhere. What was happening? Mexican Independence Day was happening. “Since I was a kid, this was a very important day in my family and in my country. It’s a day to be with all your family, with people that you don’t usually meet, and your friends,” says Jose Arturo Torres from Querétaro. “Even though it’s a day when you miss your family and your country a lot, it’s also a reason to spend time with my friends here from Mexico and also from another countries, so they can see something different for them, and so normal for us the Mexicans.” The holiday marks Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1810. “We celebrate this day as the beginning of a new country that finally was able be a country by itself, with its culture and its identity. We were finally a nation,” says María Villaseñor from Guadalajara. In commemoration of the day, a group of international students ate dinner together at the downtown restaurant Jalapeños. Most of were Mexicans, but there were also some people from Syria, Spain and Brazil. According to Daniel Bernáldez, coming together is what matters on this holiday: “We the Mexicans are very familiar people, which means that every celebration requires the family be together. The union in a family is something essential for us, and living in the campus makes us feel like a family, so this was a good reason to make something together, like having dinner.” And, of course, food matters too. “The best thing about Mexican food is that when we start to eat, the food needs lots of condiments, and salsas, and lemon, and salt, and...

I should say now, despite my last name, I am terminally Caucasian. I say this not out of pride, but as a cop-out for not quite understanding all the different idiosyncrasies of Fiesta last weekend. The mock meeting of the Native Americans and the Spanish clergy on the main stage, the collection of women in beautiful dresses being marched around the plaza, all flew mostly over my head. However, the one thing that unites the world and culture is our love of food. The first place I stopped for a sample was the Santafehoney.com honey stand. The friendly clerk asked me which honey I would like to try. I told him to surprise me. He smiled and dipped the sample stick into the white honey jar, a honey which he assured me was both rare and delicious. As soon as the honey reached my tongue I was in heaven. The sweetness of the honey and the almost faint vanilla taste convinced me that this was as much dessert honey as it was fit for a sandwich. Had a pint of the white honey not cost $20–and I wasn’t college student poor–I would definitely have bought one. Next, I decided that I needed to wash down the honey, so I stopped at George’s Fresh Fruit Drink stand. They also offered free samples and the strawberry pineapple was calling my name. The clerk made clear that only fresh fruit and no sugar or other additives would be present. Knowing all this only made me happier with the perfect fruity taste. Another nugget of honesty: I’m incredibly picky. I’ve been this way my entire life and only since I’ve been in Santa Fe have I opened up my palate a bit. For example, the color green now...

 By Charlotte Martinez/ Photos by Amanda Tyler Legislating at the Santa Fe Capitol (aka the Roundhouse) runs like an ant hill. Workers zig zag across halls, hierarchy command from their post, and staircases hustle with feet. The higher you go, the more prestigious it gets. It’s quiet on the top floor—perhaps the lush carpet hordes chatter and phones send coded rings directly to their receivers. The few who linger here have stoic or concerned expressions. They move as if they want to leave. The bottom floor, on the other hand, brings life back to the Capitol. Here, on the bottom floor, nestled first doorway to the left, is the Capitol Café, where conversing is informal and food is comforting. It’s not so much a café as it is a walk-in nook. Perhaps 12-by-6 feet of customer space and 15-by-10 feet of kitchen space. The area booms with laughter, clings with pans and sounds with friendly “hellos.” Two woman stand behind a counter, chatting. Chefs in the back spring from side to side, preparing orders. A young man in a suite strides in. He asks for a juice and brings out his wallet. “Can I write a check?” he asks. Behind the counter Debra Zamora, a lively middle-aged food server from Roe New Mexico, laughs. “Sure, I’ll just take interest on it, that’s all.” The man stops and smiles at her. He orders something else. “This kind of treatment doesn’t happen upstairs,” he jokes. Zamora nods. “This is the kind of service we offer.” “That’s why I come downstairs,” the man says, writing his check. “I even come order my lunch downstairs and take it upstairs.” He turns to leave. “Thank you very much.” Next, a woman comes up to the counter and orders a...